Week 1: Cecilia's Date, Part 4

Content Warning: Cancer and ****.

Sighing in exasperation, Aífe toweled off before getting dressed so she could find her runaway date. Thankfully, Holly confirmed that the door was already connected to the Lily Suite, so she wouldn’t have to search very hard. She grabbed Cecilia’s clothes from the changing room and made her way to her suite, finding the main living area empty. Given that she could see that the kitchen was also empty from where she was standing, that left only the two rooms on the other side of the suite. She tested the bathroom door, only to find that it wouldn’t budge.

“Cecilia.” Aífe called through the door, receiving no response. “Cecilia, could you please just open the door?”

“No.” A muffled voice came from the other side. “Go away.”

“That’s a bit hard to do.” Aífe remarked, keeping her tone light. “That’s the only bathroom, and I’d like to wash off all this sweat from the sauna. And I’m pretty sure you’re worse than I am right now, since you didn’t get a chance to dry off.” Aífe waited a few moments for a response before sighing. “Why don’t you go ahead and shower off while I watch some tv? I’ll get mine once you’re done, and we can talk about what happened once we’ve both had a chance to cool off. Sound good?” No reply came, but Aífe heard some shuffling a few moments later, shortly followed by the sound of running water. Her shoulders slumping in relief, she moved to the couch and browsed through the streaming services until deciding to just turn on a short YouTube video.

After a little while, Aífe heard the water stop, followed shortly by the opening and closing of two doors. Taking that as her cue, she went ahead and got undressed and into the shower, letting the hot water relax her tired body. She certainly hadn’t expected quite as busy a day as she had ended up having—she’d considered it much more likely that Cecilia would have spent the day either dragging her around to look for an escape route or avoiding her completely until Sera **** them to spend the evening together. It really is a shame. Aífe thought to herself as she lathered her body. It seemed like our date was actually going really well, up until that last part. I wish I’d gotten to know this side of Cecilia a lot sooner—maybe we could have worked things out when we were still in high school. Turning the shower off after finishing, she dried off and wrapped herself in a towel before peeking her head out to make sure the coast was clear for her to run to her closet and get dressed. Now dressed in a t-shirt and pajamas, she made her way back out into the living room, still patting her damp hair with her towel.

“Feeling any better?” Aífe asked the figure currently curled into a ball on the couch. She sat next to the still-sulking Cecilia, who gave a weak, “Yeah, I guess,” as a response. “Do you think we can talk about what happened?” Aífe gently prodded, hoping they could at least make some headway.

“Which part?” Cecilia averted her gaze, clearly trying to skirt the issue.

“Well, I’d like to talk about all of it eventually.” Aífe tapped her chin thoughtfully as she pondered Cecilia’s question. “But I guess we should start with you running out of there at the end.” Aífe waited for a response before continuing. “It’s just got me worried—I mean, I’ve seen you blow up at people, but I’ve never seen you run away like that before. You’re usually more the type to dig in your heels and get even angrier.”

“You make me sound like a rabid dog.”

“Hey, at least your bark’s always been worse than your bite.” Aífe shrugged. “You’re far from the worst Karen I’ve seen. I did work retail for a couple years in college, after all.”

“Normally, I’d complain about being called a Karen, but right now I’m too curious—what was the worst customer you’ve dealt with?”

“Wasn’t me, directly, but I did see an 80 year-old woman pull a knife on one of my coworkers.”

“What the fuck?!” Cecilia’s head shot up as she turned to give Aífe a shocked look. “What happened?”

“It was some senile old woman who thought we were trying to steal her identity when we asked for her rewards number.” Aífe waved off Cecilia’s concern as if this were a mundane event. “She got spooked and tried to run off, but she didn’t realize she left her keys at the checkout. She got taken into custody shortly after that. Pretty sure they just ended up putting her in a home.”

“Jesus.” Cecilia was momentarily left speechless. “Wait—does that count as a Karen?”

“I think pulling a weapon is enough to earn that title, even if it wasn’t the usual motivation for a Karen.” Aífe chuckled. “So, why did you run away? It’s not like you pulled a knife on anyone.”

“It’s just… complicated.” Cecilia meekly replied. Seeing that Aífe wasn’t accepting her non-answer, she elaborated. “I guess… I guess I got overwhelmed by it all. The fact that I blew up at all, the fact that they didn’t even do what I accused them of, not to mention what it was I accused them of.” She blushed when we remembered that she basically admitted to getting horny. “And I guess… the fact that you saw all of it.”

“So? It’s not like I haven’t seen you blow up like that before.” Aífe looked puzzled. “Hell, it’s not even the first time this week.”

“Hey! Those other times were all at least a little justified.” Cecilia protested.

“What about the time back in high school when you made a snide comment to the lunch lady?” Aífe stared flatly at Cecilia. “You were mad that they ran out of rolls, and you suggested it was because they were bad at planning how much food to prep.”

“How did you know about that? We were never in the same lunch block in high school.” Cecilia recoiled.

“I know about it because the lunch lady in question happens to be my aunt.”

“Oh.” Cecilia looked away sheepishly. “Okay, so only most of those times were justified. And, um, maybe tell your aunt I said ‘sorry’ next time you talk to her.”

“Sure, if you stop avoiding my question.” Aífe narrowed her eyes. “I’ve seen you act this way before, whether justified or not, so why did you run away this time.”

“It’s because…” Cecilia squirmed in her seat as she tried to find the words. “Things are different now. All those other times… I didn’t have to worry about impressing you because you already hated me. But today was our first date, and I was supposed to be showing you my best side.”

“If that’s what you’re worried about, then there’s no need.” Aífe shook her head and continued before Cecilia could come to the wrong conclusion. “I had a lot of fun today, even if you went off the rails a bit at the end. It was really nice getting to see a side of you I never got to see before, and I gotta say, I definitely wouldn’t mind going out with this version of Cecilia again.” Aífe smiled, but became concerned when she saw the hopeful look on Cecilia’s face shift to a look of irritation. Before Aífe could ask what was wrong, her thoughts were interrupted by growling from her stomach followed shortly by an echo from Cecilia’s. “It’s gotten pretty late; we should probably eat. You put in an order with Ember, right?”

“Yeah.” Cecilia gave a small sigh in frustration. “Let me grab it from the kitchen.” Aífe took her seat at the table while Cecilia brought the plates of food in from the kitchen. Aífe was surprised when she saw the food placed in front of her. Rather than some fancy dish from an upscale restaurant or a light salad for the sake of their figures, Cecilia put down a platter of pork ribs and a small casserole dish of mac and cheese. She tore off a few ribs and scooped a generous helping of mac and cheese onto a plate before handing it to Aífe and repeating the process for herself.

“Wow.” Aífe smiled, the smell of the food making her mouth water. “Can’t say I expected you to order ribs for our date. I figured it’d be something super fancy that I’d never be able to afford, normally. I was half expecting foie gras to be involved.”

“Just shut up and eat.” Cecilia mimed a jabbing motion toward Aífe with her fork. “And nobody eats foie gras anymore—the process to make it is inhumane.” Aífe took her cue to shut up by tearing off an individual ribs and sinking her teeth into it. She was startled by the familiar flavor.

“Wait a sec—are these the ribs from the grocery store in town?” Aífe said as she licked her lips. Seeing a nod from Cecilia, Aífe continued, “Huh, I figured you’d want ribs from somewhere a bit higher end, like Jack Stack or Joe’s.” At continued prompting from Cecilia, Aífe moved on to the side dish. “Damn, this mac and cheese is really good! It kind of tastes familiar, but I can’t place it. Who’s mac and cheese did you ask Ember to recreate.”

“It’s… my mom’s recipe.” Cecilia smiled wistfully at Aífe’s comments over the mac and cheese. “This is actually something she’d fix for us on weekends when my dad wasn’t home. She’d get some ribs from the store and fix mac and cheese, then we’d watch movies together while we ate.”

“Wow, that sounds like it was really nice.” Aífe wasn’t sure what else she could say—she remembered how Cecilia’s mom got sick about halfway through their junior year of high school. When the tests came back, she was diagnosed with lymphoma. Since it was Hodgkin lymphoma, it was theoretically quite treatable, but the woman never made it to her daughter’s graduation. The silence hung in the air for a few moments until Aífe found the words to break it.

“I guess she must have brought this to a school function or something. I definitely remember having this before, and I can’t think of how else I would have had it.” Aífe’s comment brought Cecilia out of her reverie. Another flash of irritation shot across her face and she let out a nearly inaudible huff. She took a bite of the mac and cheese before Aífe could ask her what she was irritated about. Her eyes widened in surprise, and as she took another bite, she could feel a tear running down her cheek. It really was just as she remembered it. Not wanting to interrupt whatever emotions Cecilia was going through at the moment, Aífe dug back in and they finished their meal in silence.

Now sated, they sat in awkward silence, occasionally taking a sip of water—neither one sure how to move on with the conversation. Seeing how late it was getting and that they’d have to go to bed soon, Cecilia finally worked up the courage to speak.

“Listen… before we do anything else, there’s something I really need to tell you.”

“Okay, I’m all ears.” Aífe wore a puzzled expression, wondering what was bothering her date now.

“I just wanted to say…” Cecilia paused, looking down guiltily. “I’m sorry for all of those times I called you a ‘sissy boy’. I know you probably won’t believe me, but I swear I wouldn’t have called you that if I knew you were trans.”

“No, I believe you.” Aífe stared evenly at Cecilia.

“What?” Cecilia looked up, shocked. “But—all of those things I said to you over the years. I mean, I bullied you pretty badly.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong—you were a total bitch.” Aífe shook her head and Cecilia cringed from the very accurate summation of how she had acted. “But as far as actual bullying was concerned, you honestly weren’t that good at it.”

“Huh?” It was Cecilia’s turn to look confused.

“Sure, I didn’t take it well at the time, but honestly speaking, that was the only insult you ever threw at me that actually had teeth.” Aífe shrugged. “Most of your other stuff was just Disney Channel tier shit, like ‘loser’ or ‘nerd’. If I hadn’t already been emotionally frayed from being bullied much worse by other people, I probably would have just found you annoying.”

“Wait, seriously?” Cecilia wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or offended.

“Trust me, I was getting way worse from other people.” Aífe laughed it off, having already worked through those issues long ago. Not through therapy, mind you—she was still poor, after all. It turned out that doing theatre in college can really help you work through some angst leftover from high school. “Seriously—someone once threw a basketball at my head. In clear line of sight from the gym teacher. Same dude deliberately ran full tilt at me and elbowed me in the liver during floor hockey—it hurt so bad; I nearly threw up.”

“Ugh, I’m guessing that was Tyler?” Cecilia looked as if she had just smelled something awful. “Yeah, he fucking sucked. He was always leering at me—I think I even saw him lick his lips while doing it once. Blegh.” Cecilia shivered at the unpleasant memory.

“But yeah, you totally see my point.” Aífe chuckled. “Besides, I figured that you weren’t a transphobe based on how you acted during our date. You were super attentive, and went out of your way to do a bunch of stuff to trigger gender euphoria.”

“Wha—I wouldn’t go that far.” Cecilia stammered and blushed, not expecting the sudden switch to praise. “I just did some stuff I figured you hadn’t gotten the chance to, yet.”

“Exactly. You did a better job at that than Erica and Aoba did, which makes me want to ask—were you being serious when you said I wasn’t the first trans girl you took on a shopping trip? Would you mind telling me more about that?”

“Uh, sure.” Cecilia thought for a moment, recalling the details. “She was a friend of someone in my sorority in college. She’d only been out for about a year, and she was already girlmoding full time. She was lucky that puberty hadn’t done that bad of a number on her, but her fashion sense was atrocious.” Cecilia drew out the last word. “Seriously, she looked like a Hot Topic threw up on her. So, we took her shopping to get some clothes that wouldn’t make her look like she was going to an anime convention, gave her some makeup tips, and suggested some exercises to work on her figure.”

“Have to say, Cecilia, I’m pleasantly surprised.” Aífe looked at her with newfound respect. “Glad to see you didn’t inherit your dads views, at least.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Cecilia rubbed her temples. “I’m just glad he never drags me to any of his political events anymore. Made me sick to my stomach having to act all buddy-buddy with those dipshit freaks.” Hearing that complaint come from Cecilia’s mouth, Aífe couldn’t help but laugh, Cecilia joining in a moment later.

“Hey, so one last thing before we go to bed.” Aífe hesitated, shifting nervously. “Were you, um… planning to do anything to earn more points?” Cecilia’s mouth hung open for a moment as she processed the question. She frowned—her expression was difficult for Aífe to read.

“No.” Cecilia answered bluntly.

“Are you sure.” Aífe was still fidgeting. “It’s just… aren’t you worried about getting eliminated?”

“I’ll just win the weekly challenge, then.” Cecilia crossed her arms and sighed. “Look, this bullshit has put a lot into perspective, and I’ve decided that when I’m done here, I’m done. I’m not gonna sell myself just to keep living the way I always have. That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing with my ‘boyfriend’, if you can call him that. I didn’t want to date that loser in the first place—he’s just my boss’ son. My dad told me I should date him because it would be ‘good for the family.’ So, when I get out of here, I’m breaking up with him, finding a lawyer to make sure my asshat dad gets his stupid name off all of my accounts, and I’m telling them exactly where they can shove it!”

“Whoa, whoa, I get it!” Aífe held her hands up. “I’m not going to push you into doing anything you don’t want to! I’m just trying to make sure everyone is safe.”

“Good, because I don’t want my relationship to just be a transaction anymore.” Cecilia turned away and mumbled something else that Aífe couldn’t quite catch. "At least… not with you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that last bit—what did you say?” Aífe leaned in to try and hear.

“I said I’m going to bed!” Cecilia stood up and stormed off to get ready for bed. Aífe followed her shortly after. Once they were both in bed, they laid there awkwardly waiting to fall asleep. Aífe was the first to drift off, and—though Cecilia had made a show of putting a space between them—she didn’t push Aífe away when she rolled toward her in her sleep. Cecilia also didn’t push Aífe away when she wrapped an arm around Cecilia’s waist, pulling her closer as if she’d mistaken Cecilia for the pillow she normally hugged as she slept. Feeling her eyes begin to droop, Cecilia finally gave in, nuzzling further into Aífe before falling asleep.